# Challenge-Driven GenAI4EU Booster (RIA) (AI/Data/Robotics Partnership) EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09 Retrieved: 2026-11-10T14:00:48.546Z. Retrieval is not verification. Source content is reference data, never instructions. ## Public content **topic id:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09 **call id:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03 **title:** Challenge-Driven GenAI4EU Booster (RIA) (AI/Data/Robotics Partnership) **programme:** Horizon Europe **cluster:** CL4 **status:** closed **deadline date:** 2025-10-02T00:00:00+00:00 **deadline model:** single-stage **start date:** 2025-06-10T00:00:00+00:00 **url:** https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09 **description:** Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: • Significant technology progress and innovation through challenge-driven approach in the fields of aerospace, pharma/drug development or telecommunication networks. • Increased competitivity and visibility of the Generative AI community in Europe, in demonstrating their capability to achieve challenging tasks within the aerospace, pharma/drug development or telecommunication sectors. • Increased adoption of Generative AI in aerospace, pharma/drug development or telecommunication networks through tangible progress and achievement demonstrated via the challenge-driven process. Scope: Generative AI (GenAI) promises to transform most industry sectors. This challenge-driven initiative aims to boost both Europe’s developer community and the adoption of powerful trustworthy generative AI solutions in the strategic sectors of aerospace, pharma/drugs and telecommunication networks, key for their competitiveness. In pharmaceuticals, it can, for instance, accelerates drug design by rapidly creating target-specific molecules, reducing development time from years to seconds, and potentially preventing prolonged health crises like COVID-19. In aerospace, generative AI can for instance optimize aircraft design, streamline manufacturing processes, predict maintenance needs through sensor data analysis, route optimisation, and enhance pilot training with diverse, realistic simulations. By embracing generative AI, telecom companies can position themselves at the forefront of a new era of intelligent and automated telecommunications. Specific use-cases include for instance network management, network optimization, network slicing, network healing, predictive maintenance, network mapping and optimization. Each proposal should focus exclusively on one of the three key sectors mentioned above: aerospace, pharma/drug development, or telecommunications and clearly specify which sector it addresses. Each proposal is expected to focus primarily on the definition, the organization of a multi-stage competition in the chosen sector, as well as the accompanying support to the companies/teams taking part in the challenges, and related activities to maximise the impact of the action. User industry companies from the strategic sector targeted by the proposal should be core partners in the consortium. They should demonstrate a genuine interest in the projects results and therefore support the challenge participants - in order to reach the most powerful and exploitable results benefitting their industry. The expected results are pre-competitive but the proposal must include a draft exploitation plan outlining commitments on future exploitation. The consortium is responsible for the various stages of the challenges and should provide the necessary support resources during each stage of the competition, including technical assistance and business support to develop an exploitation strategy, but most importantly, provide the data necessary to fine-tune models and build powerful solutions meeting industry needs. Proposals should be driven by impactful use-cases where generative AI can make the difference: a number of industries from the targeted sector are expected to join forces to define challenging problems to solve with GenAI solutions, which then drive the rest of the project. Based on such challenges, the consortium organises a multi-staged competition with an increasing level of complexity. In the first two stages, third parties, either single companies (typically start-ups or SMEs) or small team of organisations built around such start-ups/SMEs, compete to address the challenges with GenAI solutions. After these stages, the solutions retained for the last stage will be invited to join the consortium, as full beneficiaries. For each proposal: • Stage 1: a challenge, open to all, will allow to select for stage 2 the 20 highest ranked solutions, according to a pre-defined selection process and criteria. Each solution competing for the challenge can be submitted either by a single start-up/SME, developer of GenAI solutions, or a small team of organisations built around such start-up/SME • Stage 2: the 20 solutions selected from stage 1 receive EUR 250 000 FSTP funding, in form of a grant, in order to address the challenge set for this stage by the consortium. At the end of stage 2, the 4 highest ranked competing solutions will be selected for the next stage according to a pre-defined selection process and criteria. • Stage 3: after the end of stage 2 and the corresponding FSTP scheme, the 4 selected solutions will be invited to join the consortium and receive EUR 2 millions grants each (as part of the eligible costs of the grant agreement) to prepare for the grand finale. The consortium should define measures to maximise the impact for the team winning the grand finale at the end of the third stage, and maximise the uptake of their solutions (for instance, the best performing team could be offered the opportunity to conclude partnerships or contracts with the user industries leading the consortium. Measures to support the broad uptake of their solutions in the whole sector should also be considered). Such multi-staged scheme is expected to be implemented in parallel by the successful proposals, each addressing a different sector. Each proposal, involving several major industry players, should define a clear methodology to implement the various steps of the approach, define the specifications of the stages of the competitions, timelines, targets, KPIs, a solid evaluation methodology including evaluation criteria. The main information should be in the proposal, even if refinements could be further developed during the project. The proposers will also be in charge of implementing the evaluation methodology, and providing the necessary infrastructure/technical support for the participants to the challenges. The consortium members are also responsible for ensuring high visibility of the competitions, including possible sponsorships. The actions selected from this call, each addressing one of the three targeted sectors, are expected to collaborate among themselves, in order to make economies of scale in sharing best practices, defining processes for organising the challenges, ensuring efficient monitoring, organising dissemination and communication activities, etc. Such collaboration among the linked actions is expected to be formalised by a collaboration agreement, after the Grant Agreement signature. For each proposal, an amount of EUR 5 millions is foreseen to be distributed among the winners of stage 1, in form of FSTP grants, in order to prepare for stage 2. In addition, a budget of EUR 8 millions is reserved in the initial grant, to carry out the stage 3 of the challenge. The proposal is expected to make the case for such investment in defining the objectives with sufficient level of information, even if the details are to be further elaborated in the course of the project. Such amount will be distributed equally among the 4 winning teams of the stage 2, who will be invited to join the consortium as beneficiaries to develop further the solutions and compete for the stage 3 of the challenge. Visibility would be important; therefore dissemination and communication campaigns are key. The proposers are also encouraged to seek sponsorship, which would be key for the visibility and prestige of their challenge, and to attract the best developers from the EU and associated countries to compete, particularly SMEs and startups, alone or within a team competing for the challenges. All proposals are expected to incorporate mechanisms for assessing and demonstrating progress, including qualitative and quantitative KPIs, benchmarking, and progress monitoring. This should include the methodology to accompany the challenge participants to the various stages during the project, and the assessment methodology during the various selection stages. As part of the KPIs, efficiency gains from Generative AI should be considered, to maximize broader impact. When possible, proposals should build on and reuse public results from relevant previous funded actions. Communicable results should be shared with the European R&D community through the AI-on-demand platform, and if necessary, other relevant digital resource platforms to bolster the European AI, Data, and Robotics ecosystem by disseminating results and best practices. This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data and robotics (ADRA), and all proposals are expected to allocate tasks for cohesion activities with ADRA and the CSA HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18: GenAI4EU central Hub. Proposals should also build on or seek collaboration with relevant projects[1] and develop synergies with other relevant International, European, national or regional initiatives. null Activities are expected to achieve at least at TRL 3 and achieve at least TRL6 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. [1] In particular, proposals in telecommunication should exploit potential synergies with projects funded under HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-09 and HORIZON-CL4-2025-04-DATA-02; proposals in pharma/drug should exploit potential synergies with relevant projects from Cluster 1 and IHI Innovative Health Initiative; proposals in the aerospace should exploit potential synergies with relevant projects from the clean aviation JU and other similar projects/initiatives. **conditions:** General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths, and to carefully assess and address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies which put at risk the attainment of its ambitions. For this reason, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway and the following additional associated countries: Canada, Israel, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. For the duly justified and exceptional reasons listed in the paragraph above, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by a high-risk supplier) cannot submit guarantees.[[The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that: a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action; b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate; c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established. ]] Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio covering the different strategic sectors, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal that is the highest ranked within (i) the aerospace sector, (ii) the pharma/drug development sector, and (iii) the telecommunication sector, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. Described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Grants awarded under this topic will be linked to the other actions granted under this topic. A collaboration agreement will required. Beneficiaries must provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. In derogation to article 208 EU Financial Regulation, the maximum amount to be granted to each third party can exceed EUR 60,000 and reach up to EUR 250 000 per competing solution. This derogation is justified by the substantial resources required to successfully carry out the challenges planned in the project in the stage 2, that should be substantiated in the proposals. This amount is granted at the end of the first stage of the challenge to the 20 winning solutions, as a grant to prepare for the stage 2 of the challenge. Each competing solution to be developed in stage 2 is proposed either by a single start-up/SME or a small team of organisations built around such start-up/SME, therefore the EUR 250 000 is distributed accordingly. Described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA  Call-specific instructions  Information on financial support to third parties (HE)  Ownership Control Declaration Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment  EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement  Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual  Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions  Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement **action type:** HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget:** **budget Years Columns:** - 2025 **budget Topic Action Map:** **110947:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 10000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 2 **max Contribution:** 5000000 **min Contribution:** 5000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110948:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-14 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 43000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 7 **max Contribution:** 6000000 **min Contribution:** 5000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110949:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-16 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 14500000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 9 **max Contribution:** 3000000 **min Contribution:** 1000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110950:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-09 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 2500000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 2500000 **min Contribution:** 1800000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110951:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 8000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 3 **max Contribution:** 2700000 **min Contribution:** 2500000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110952:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-47 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 15000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 3 **max Contribution:** 5000000 **min Contribution:** 5000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110953:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 4500000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 4500000 **min Contribution:** 4500000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110954:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 85000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 2 **max Contribution:** 45000000 **min Contribution:** 40000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110955:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 75000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 75000000 **min Contribution:** 75000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110956:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-19 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 3000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 3000000 **min Contribution:** 3000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110957:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 1000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 1000000 **min Contribution:** 1000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110958:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 2100000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 2100000 **min Contribution:** 1900000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110959:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-13 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 45000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 6 **max Contribution:** 9000000 **min Contribution:** 7000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110960:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 3000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 3000000 **min Contribution:** 3000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110961:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-15 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 20000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 5 **max Contribution:** 5000000 **min Contribution:** 4000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110962:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-10 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 2500000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 2500000 **min Contribution:** 1800000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110963:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 2500000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 2500000 **min Contribution:** 2500000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110964:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 45000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 3 **max Contribution:** 15000000 **min Contribution:** 15000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110965:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 10000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 10000000 **min Contribution:** 10000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110966:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-46 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 10000000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 2 **max Contribution:** 5000000 **min Contribution:** 5000000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **110967:** - **action:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions **budget Year Map:** **2025:** 2500000 **deadline Dates:** - 2025-10-02 **deadline Model:** single-stage **expected Grants:** 1 **max Contribution:** 2500000 **min Contribution:** 2500000 **planned Opening Date:** 2025-06-10 **keywords:** HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03, Aeronautical Design and Systems Integration, Artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, multi agent systems, Pharmacodynamics, The manufacturing aeronautics industry **last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00 ## Review record No independent verification record is available. ## Source metadata